Stem winding and setting mechanism



April 1952 A. RAwuNGs 2,592,067

STEM WINDING AND SETTING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 17, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Al? THUR L. RAWL INGS April 8, 1952 STEM WINDING AND SETTING MECHANISM 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Feb. 17, 1950 A. L. RAWLINGS "IIHIIMMH u llllllh' "II-l HHHHU HWIIH IN VEN TOR:

ARTHUR L. RAWLl/VGS' Fwrm,

ATTYS- Patented Apr. 8, 1952 STEM WINDING AND SETTING MECHANISM Arthur L. Rawlings, Waterbury, Conn., assignor to The United States Time Corporation, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application February 17, 1950, Serial No. 144,720

Claims.

This invention relates to watches or other timepieces in which the two operations of winding the mainspring and setting the hands are performed by a single stem projecting through the case.

So-called keyless watches as now usually constructed are wound by turning a stem having a knurled crown outside the watch case. When it is desired to set the hands this stem is pulled out a short distance whereby a gear shift is eifected inside the watch and the stem turns the hands instead of winding the spring. For this purpose the stem is provided with a groove or neck of reduced section which engages a projection on the side of a movable element, such as a. lever, pivoted in the watch movement. When the stem in such existing watches is pulled out a short distance the lever is thereby turned through a small angle and engages the hand setting gear; at the same time, since the angle of movement is limited, the projection on the lever normally limits the outward travel of the stem.

Unfortunately, the lever as usually constructed heretofore is very liable to fail in holding the stem because the lever either bends or rocks on its trunnions or pivot, or for some other reason causes the projection on the lever to come out of engagement with the neck of the stem.

To prevent this contingency, the present invention provides a fixed member in the movement having an inclined face which is inoperative while the stem and lever are in the winding position, but which is adapted to engage said lever while in the hand setting position whereby the lever is backed up and its projection is forced into close positive engagement with the neck of the stem independently of the fulcrum of the lever.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide means for reducing the liability of the stem being inadvertently pulled out or lost. Another object of the invention is to enable a thinner watch to be constructed by the use of a thinner stem retaining lever. A further object of the invention is to simplify and cheapen the construction of the stem retaining lever and its fulcrum. These and other objects of the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a. conventional watch winding and set mechanism in the winding position to which the invention is applied;

Fig. 2 is a side view of some of the parts shown in Fig. 1, particularly the fixed inclined plane locking member which forms a feature of the present invention;

Fig. 3 shows the mechanism of Fig. 1 in the hand setting position;

Fig. 4 is a side view of some of the parts shown in Fig. 3, particularly the fixed inclined plane locking member which is a feature of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a front view of another conventional type of watch winding and set mechanism in the winding position to which the invention is applied;

Fig. 6 is a side view of some of the parts shown in Fig. 5, particularly the fixed inclined plane locking member which forms a feature of the present invention;

Fig. 7 shows the mechanism of Fig. 5 in the hand setting position, and

Fig. 8 is a side view of some of the parts shown in Fig. 7, particularly the fixed inclined plane locking member which is a feature of the present invention.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 3, the winding crown I0 is attached to stem passing through a hole in the watch case l2. The end portion l3 of the stem is suitably journaled in a bearing in the watch frame (not shown). Immediately above the pivot, the body of the stem is squared where it passes through a square hole in the sliding pinion clutch M. A groove or neck I5 is turned in the upper part of the stem as shown. A lever l6 pivoted at I! and normally lying on the front of the front plate of thewatch has a projection H! which engages groove [5. Sliding clutch M has a groove 2i] which engages a lever 2| urged upward by spring 23 and having a raised part 22.

When stem II is pulled partly out, the lower side of groove I5 raises pin l8 and rocks lever l6 around fulcrum ll. The lower end of lever l6 then depresses the lever 2| against spring 23 until it comes to rest against stop H? (see Fig. 3). At the same time lever 2|, owing to its engagement with groove 20, slides clutch I 4 down so that it comes out of engagement with winding pinion 24 while the teeth 25 engage the hand setting pinion 33 in a well known manner.

Since the travel of lever 2| is limited by a stop IS, the upward movement of stem II is also limited on account of the engagement of pin IS on the lever IS with groove l5 of the stem.

To prevent lever |6 from resting in an intermediate position, it has a pin 3| engaging the profile of a detent spring 32 shown, in this case, as integral with the minute wheel retaining plate 28.

The foregoing description applies to a conventional pre-existing watch movement, and it will be observed that if the pin I8 is able to come forward out of the'groove l5, either by bending of lever IE, or by looseness of the lever at its fulcrum H, the stem will no longer be held, but can be inadvertently pulled out of the movement; that is, outwardly beyond the position shown in Fig. 3. This is a contingency which the present inven tion aims to prevent by virtue of the proposed improved construction.

According to the present invention, the pin I8 is held positively in engagement with groove l when the parts are in the hand setting position, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, by a rigid plate that backs up lever i6. This plate is shown at 30 in Figs. 1 and 3, and also in Figs. 2 and 4, which are side views of said plate and other associated parts. The plate 30 is rigidly attached to the Watch frame and is shown in Fig. l as forming an extension of minute wheel retaining plate 29. It is bent at the top at an angle of about 45, as shown at 26, so that its upper edge normally makes contact with the upper extremity of lever I6 when said lever is in the hand setting position as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. When said lever is in the winding position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, there is a space between it and the vertical part of plate 30. This space is necessary to permit the stem to be withdrawn when required to disassemble the watch. When the stem is to be intentionally withdrawn, it is first pushed down to the winding position; the fulcrum screw at I! is then partially unscrewed, the lever Hi can then be moved to the right in Fig. 2 until pin l8 comes out of engagement with the stem. 7

The plate 30' may be attached to the watch plate by any convenient means, as by screws. As usually constructed, watches of the type herein described normally have a retaining plate 29 adapted, as iswell known, to hold in their proper positions the lever 2| and the minute wheel of the watch. The plate 30 may conveniently be formed as an upward extension of, and in one piece with, said retaining plate.

As a further example of the application of the invention to various types of watches, reference is had to Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8, which show the parts corresponding to those in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 as they are arranged in another widely known watch. Similar parts are designated by the same numbers in all eight drawings.

In this case, as shown in Figs. 5-8, the lever [6a is arranged between the front and back watch plates 21a and has two trunnions Ila, Ila turning in holes in the plates 27a. The lever shifts the gears from wind to set in a well known manner by depressing the rocking bar, a part of which is shown at 28a, Figs. 5 and 7. I'he projection l8a, which is integral with lever IBa, projects into groove l5a of the stem I la and is normally kept in engagement by leaf spring 34a secured to outer face of front watch plate by screw 35a, Figs. 6 and 8. When it is desired to release the stem, the lever lBa is put into the winding position, Figs. 5 and 6, by pressing the stem down; spring 34a is deflected and lever 16a is manually caused to slide to the left (see Fig. 8). The front watch plate 21a has a tab 26a bent over as shown in Figs. 6 and 8, to an angle of about 45 to form an inclined face. When the lever Ifia is in the set hands position, the tip of the tab 26a holds lever lfia close up to the stem as shown in Fig. 6, and the projection [8a is positively locked into the groove in the stem independently of spring 34a or of the looseness of the trunnions Ha. When on the other hand, the lever Ilia, is in the winding position, it is below the bent over tab 26a and can consequently be moved to the left as described above to release the stem.

Because the tab backs up the lever at a point 4 immediately behind the projection that engages the stem, the lock is independent of the stiffness of the lever which may therefore be made thin. For the same reason the lock is independent of any play at the trunnions [la and there is no need for them to be carefully fitted to the holes in the frame. A costly construction is thereby avoided.

While the invention has been described in its preferred embodiments, it will be apparent that the invention is subject to various modifications and deviations occurring to those skilled in the art and it is intended that all such departures be covered by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a timepiece having a mechanism for winding the mainspring and setting the hands, a stem projecting outside the case for manually operating said mechanism, a movable element which retains the said stem in place and a minute wheel retaining plate; a fixed member having an inclined face and formed as an extension of said retaining plate, said fixed member being inoperative while said mechanism is positioned for winding, and adapted to engage said element while said mechanism i positioned for setting the hands, whereby said element is locked into positive engagement with said stem.

2. In a timepiece having mechanism for winding the mainspring and setting the hands, a stem projecting outside the case for manually operating said mechanism and a movable element engaging said stem for retaining said stem in place, a fixed member having an inclined face, said fixed member being inoperative while said mechanism is positioned for winding and adapted to engage said movable element adjacent the point of engagement of said movable element and said stem while said mechanism i positioned for setting the hands, whereby said movable element is locked into positive engagement with said stem.

3. In a timepiece having mechanism for winding the mainspring and setting the hands, a stem projecting outside the case for manually operating said mechanism, a lever engaging said stem for retaining said stem in place and a fulcrum on which said lever rotates, a fixed member having an inclined face, said fixed member being inoperative while said mechanism is positioned for winding and adapted to engage said lever adjacent the point of engagement of said lever and said stem while said mechanism is positioned for setting the hands, whereby said lever is locked independently of its fulcrum into positive engagement with said stem.

4. The combination set forth in claim 2 wherein said fixed member comprises an integral part of the frame plate of the timepiece. v

5. The combination set forth in claim 2 wherein said fixed member is connected to the frame of the timepiece.

ARTHUR L. RAWLINGS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

